Container and closure



Aug. 12, 1969 c. J. LEFTAULT, JR 0,703

CONTAINER AND CLOSURE Filed July 18, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.O/QRLEJJ Lemur. J

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CONTAINER AND CLOSURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 18, 1967 United StatesPatent 3,460,703 CONTAINER AND CLOSURE Charles J. Leftault, Jr.,Richmond, Ind., assignor to Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh,Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 18, 1967, Ser. No. 654,109Int. Cl. B65d 53/00 US. Cl. 215-40 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acontainer having a screw threaded neck with plastic lugs below the screwthreads and a metal cap screwed onto the neck and having an upwardlydirected edge of the cap skirt underlying the lower surfaces of thelugs. The cap skirt has a circumferential weakened fracture line betweenthe cap screw threads and cap skirt edge so that upon unscrewing thecap, the skirt fractures.

Background of the invention Container and closure combinations in whicha sheet metal closure is reformed to engage retaining means on thecontainer are applied by means of rolling tools which bear upon andreform the metal against the container formations. Pilferproof packageclosures, separable by fracture occurring when the package is opened toprovide a removable reclosure portion and a retained band, have beenmade with the threads or other retaining means on the reclosure portionpreformed, but rolling tools still were required to conform the band toa container shoulder after the closure was in place thereon.

Aside from the matter of expense of the rolling tools, their usepresents a problem when the container is made of plastic material, sinceplastic containers, when made in economical thicknesses, are not strongenough to withstand the pressure of such rolling tools. Moreover,containers with handles projecting near the neck are increasing in use,and these projections obstruct the operation of the usual rolling tools.

Summary of the invention A package comprising a container having a neckprovided with circumferentially spaced lugs having lower faces disposedat not more than 90 from a subtended vertical line, and a closure havingits lower edge turned inward and upward to provide an edge to bearagainst the lower faces of the lugs.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is an elevational view of aplastic container with the neck of plastic material formed according tothe invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the container;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a closure for applicationto the container of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the neck of the container ofFIG. 2 and the closure of FIG. 3 with the closure partially applied;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the neck of the container ofFIG. 2 and the closure of FIG. 3 and showing a later stage in theapplication of the closure;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the closure fullyapplied;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a package with a modified formof the container and closure including a sealing gasket and a tear-offclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an adaptation of the inventionto a glass container.

Description of the preferred embodiment The plastic container 10 shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 has a handle 11 and a neck 12. Surrounding the neckopening is a sealing surface 13, and the neck is threaded exteriorly at14 above a shoulder 15. Projecting from this shoulder are twodiametrically opposed lugs 16 and immediately below the shoulder are twolugs 17 of greater radial projection than, and centered on the diameternormal to the center diameter of, the lugs 16. These lower lugs 17 havesloping upper faces 18 and lower faces 19 which preferably aresubstantially fiat but may be disposed at an upward inward angle. Asshown, the outer edge of each of the lugs 16 and 17 extends betweenabout 40 and about 50 on a circumscribing line.

The closure 20 has a top panel 21 and a skirt 22 which is prethreaded at23 to mate with the thread 14 and has a shoulder 24 between the threadedpart 23 and the lower, wider skirt portion 25. The skirt is weakened ona circumferential line by slits 26 between bridges 27. The edge of theskirt is turned inwardly and upwardly at 28 to leave an edge 29 facingupwardly. The skirt portion below the weakened line comprises a lockingband 30.

When the closure is screwed onto the container, the lower skirt portionhas sufiicient resilience to pass over the lugs 16 with very littleskirt distortion. However, the lower skirt portion can pass over thelugs 17 only by reason of substantial temporary distortion induced bythe camming surfaces 18, the lower skirt portion changing substantiallyfrom round toward oval, as it passes over the maximum diameter of theselugs, so that the turned edge snaps into place thereunder. The containerneck and closure may be designed to leave a minimum space between theskirt edge 29 and the lug faces 19.

When the closure is removed, the edge 29' bears on the lug faces 19 andmay penetrate the plastic material slightly. In any case, the faces 19provide no outward camming action and the edge will not pass over thelugs. Accordingly, the bridges 27 are fractured by continued unscrewingof the closure and the portion 30 remains on the bottle.

In removal, the unrestrained portion of the skirt edge between partsbearing on faces 19 bows upwardly resulting in uneven tension on thebridges. In the structure disclosed, any tendency of the edge to bowupwardly is limited by the lugs 16 against which the edge 29 will bearin the event of such bowing. This assures satisfactory fracture of thebridges.

The camming lugs 17 may also be three or more in number and thedistortion of the cap skirt shape will be toward triangular, square,hexagonal, etc. as dictated by the number and disposition of the lugs17. The lugs 16 preferably are equal in number to the lugs 17, but astructure with four lugs 17 and two lugs 16, with all six lugs equallyspaced circumferentially and the lugs 16 diametrically disposed would bewithin the structure of the invention. In this case the skirt distortionwould be rectangular. The circumferential spacing of the lugs always issuch that the camming action of any one lug will be opposed by similaraction of at least one other lug.

The description of the preferred combination as including a prethreadedclosure is not intended to be limiting. The upper skirt portion may beplain and may be reformed to match any retaining means provided on thecontainer neck.

Once the bridges are broken the threaded portion of the closure can beused repeatedly as a reclosure while the band 30, remaining on thecontainer, shows that the package has been opened.

The bearing of the top panel 21 of the closure on the sealing surface 13of plastic material usually provides an efficient seal, but somepackages may require a gasket for proper sealing. This is particularlytrue with frictio-n closures in which the skirt has no retaining meansabove the upturned edge. In FIG. 7, I have shown a container andcooperating fritcion closure embodying my invention. The container hasthe lugs 17 and an inwardly disposed flange 31 and the closure has aflangible top panel 41 the upturned edge 29 on its skirt and contains agasket 32 having a central recess 33 characterized by a downwardlyflaring outer wall 34 and a depressed diaphragm 35. With thisconstruction, any internal pressure on the diaphragm will tighten thebearing of the wall 34 on the lower edge of the flange 31, assuringsealing contact.

The lugs and upturned edge cooperate most efliciently when the lugs areof plastic material. In FIG. 8 I have shown an adaptation of theinvention to provide the same advantage for a glass container. A plasticcollar 36, having the lugs 16 and 17 is placed in a groove 37 of theglass container 38-. The lugs then function as described above.

I claim:

1. A container-closure combination comprising a container having a neckwhich has an upper sealing surface and which has outwardly extendinglugs of plastic material with downwardly sloping outer surfaces andsubstantially outwardly radiating lower surfaces, said lugs being spacedcircumferentially for providing opposed cam surfaces below said uppersealing surface, and a metal closure comprising a top panel and a skirtportion having an inwardly disposed and upwardly directed bottom edgeunderlying said lower surfaces of said container lugs, said lugs beingslightly penetrable by the upwardly directed edge of said skirt portionand restraining said edge from being drawn outwardly and upwardly oversaid lugs.

2. A container-closure combination as set forth in claim 1 in which thelower surfaces on said container lugs are disposed to form an outwardlyopen included angle of not over 90 with a depending vertical line.

3. A container-closure combination as set forth in claim 1 in which saidcontainer neck has an exterior screw thread formation thereon and hasadditional lugs of less radial extent than said first-named lugs, saidadditional lugs having their lower surfaces disposed above the lowersurfaces of said first-named lugs, and said closure has a threadedportion to match the screw thread formation on said neck and a weakenedline between said bottom edge and said threaded portion.

4. A container-closure combination as set forth in claim 1 in which saidcontainer neck has an inwardly extending flange and which includes agasket having a central recess therein providing a depressed diaphragmand a downwardly flaring outer wall bearing against the lower edge ofsaid inwardly extending flange.

5. A metal closure adapted for application to a container neck which hasan upper sealing surface, an exterior screw thread formation below saidsealing surface, and outwardly extending lugs of plastic material belowsaid sealing surface, said lugs having downwardly sloping outer surfacesand substantially outwardly radiating lower surfaces and being spacedcircumferentially on said neck for providing opposed cam surfacesthereon, said metal closure comprising a top panel and a resilientlydistortable skirt, said skirt having a threaded portion to engage thescrew thread formation on said neck and an inwardly disposed andupwardly directed bottom edge, the edge being separated from saidthreaded portion by a circumferential weakened fracture line, saidclosure skirt having a transverse diameter at said upwardly directededge adapted to pass over container lugs having a greater transversediameter at the outer surface of said lugs upon resilient distortion ofsaid closure skirt so that upon application of the closure to thecontainer said upwardly directed edge underlies said lugs on saidcontainer neck and said lugs are slightly penetrable by said upwardlydirected edge and restrain said edge from being drawn outwardly andupwardly thereover.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 747,373 12/1903 Chapman 215-421,189,860 7/1916 Nevelson 220-60 2,162,712 6/1939 Hamberger 215-422,445,647 7/1948 Thomas 215-40 2,675,040 4/1954 Raun et al. 220-60 X3,263,724 8/1966 Mojonnier et al. 215-41 X 3,329,295 7/1967 Fields215-42 X 3,374,913 3/1968 Zipper 215-42 X FOREIGN PATENTS 335,15611/1903 France.

DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 215-41, 42

